Soliana Bonapart & Aardenburg Attorneys At Law

In our family law practice we regularly provide counseling and legal assistance in cases involving undivided estates, partition of communities, estates and divorces. We also defend to the best of our abilities our clients’ interests in paternity suits, voluntary acknowledgement of paternity, guardianships and court orders. But our multi-faceted family law cases also include succession issues and asset protection constructions for wealthy private individuals.

In our practice, we’re experienced in dealing with the entire spectrum of labor laws, everything from the law regarding termination of employment, with its various dismissal procedures and rules on dispute settlement, to providing advice and assistance for takeovers, collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations, transfer of companies, restructuring according to labor laws, disputes with corporate directors, issues relating to permanent staff and temporary employment agency workers, pension issues, civil servants (dismissal law), etc.

Our employment law attorneys frequently also draft and review employment contracts, (pension) rules and regulations, CBAs and contracts for corporate directors, permanent staff and temporary employment agency workers.

You can look up our track record when dealing with companies having difficulties with their relaunch and restructuring programs. We’ve counseled the national airline company during various relaunch and restructuring projects; we’ve assisted hotel management enterprises when purchasing large hotels at public sales and we’ve advised the government, shareholders and the management of companies dealing with various problems.

Furthermore, we regularly act as the receiver for companies which have been granted a suspension of payments or as the trustee in bankruptcies and we provide advice and litigate for parties involved in the suspension of payments or bankruptcies.

During mergers and takeovers, we’re able to quickly organize teams and to support sellers as well as investors during the merger and takeover process, starting from the first exploratory discussions, the letter of intent, up to the due diligence, the negotiations and the drafting, as well as the signing, of the final contract. In Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten and also in Suriname, we have monitored transactions, including the takeover of the majority interest in an airport operating company, a water and electrical utility company, takeovers in the hotel and leisure industry, the woodworking industry, the insurance sector and telecommunications and trading companies.

We practice corporate law in the broadest sense: counseling and consulting services, founding companies, shareholders’ agreements and partnership contracts, directors’ and officers’ liability, shareholders’ disputes, conversions, mergers, divisions, dissolutions, corporate governance and the liquidation of legal persons and corporations.

We register trademarks and trade names on all the islands in the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba) and provide consulting services in all areas of intellectual property law. In cases of infringement, counterfeit (imitation) articles for example, unauthorized use of copyrights, including music or photo rights, we can take immediate legal action, with or without the cooperation of law enforcement and prosecuting agencies. This can result in interesting cases. Did you know that the creations of carnival groups in annual carnival parades are protected by copyright law?

We provide legal assistance to television stations regarding copyright law and enter into negotiations to license broadcasting rights. In the field of information technology, we draft a wide variety of software (development) contracts, license agreements, various IT agreements and electronic signature agreements for both local companies and international firms which, in many cases, operate in Curaçao’s E-zones.

The local real estate and rental market is comprised of a variety of stakeholders, from builders of private homes and apartments, to (overseas) investors in extensive tourist projects. We assess, review and draw up all the required license/permit documents related to this market, including building and services contracts, rental and management contracts, rental pools, rules and regulations for owners’ associations, regulations for the location and external appearance of buildings, construction and building permits, user fees, zoning regulations and environmental and nuisance ordinance provisions.

We regularly litigate in the areas of building law and tenancy law, in civil court, before arbiters and before rent control boards.

An example is the assistance we provided to the main American contractor responsible for constructing the Renaissance hotel in Curaçao, regard their disputes with the hotel owner and the subcontractors. Another example worth mentioning, is when we acted as the representative for the contractors when they exercised their right of retention and for clients to cancel a right of retention exercised on them.

Our real estate expertise is not limited to the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. In Suriname, we provided legal assistance to the builder and contractor during construction of a large office, work and storage complex in Paramaribo.

Soliana Bonapart & Aardenburg has a wide-ranging and deeply-rooted litigation practice. We practice practically all disciplines of procedural law on all the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. We assist clients in civil court cases, in administrative procedures, cases involving public servants, administrative appeals filed with government agencies (including, for example, the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) and the Bureau of Telecommunications and Post), disputes brought before the medical disciplinary board and in (international) arbitration and mediation cases.

We also provide support for the execution, including (exequatur) procedures for the enforcement of a foreign judgment, and for public or private auctions by drafting warrantees or by counseling regarding the possibilities for recovery.